Includes the following provisions:
1(1)
Subject to section 2 below, it shall be an offense for any person -
(a)
to excise, inifibulate or otherwise mutilate the whole or any part of the labia
majora or labia minora or clitoris of another person; or
(b)
to aid, alert, counsel or procure the performance by another person of any of
those acts on that other person's own body.
(c)
on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
five years or to both; or
(d)
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (as defined
in section 74 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982) or to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding six months, or to both.
Section 2 of the Act makes it clear that the Act does not render unlawful a surgical operation which is necessary for the physical or mental health of the person on whom it is performed. In determining whether the operation is necessary for the mental health of a person, no account is to be taken of any belief of that person or any other person that the operation is required as a matter of custom or ritual.
The Prohibition of Female
Circumcision Act 1985 (UK) prohibits female genital mutilation in the UK. The
Act is supplemented by the Children Act 1989 which provides for the investigation
of suspected violations of the female genital mutilation prohibition and enables
the removal of the child from her home where this is the only way her protection
can be guaranteed. The Children Act also empowers the courts to prohibit parents
from removing their children from the country to have the operation done elsewhere.